RockmanEXE Access Denied
by running-wolf
Summary: 20 years after Battle Network 5, things seemed to have caled down on Earth. Now, NetCrime is on the rise once more as a new evil leader rears their head and casts a dark shadow over the fate of the entire world.
1. Plug in!

Dentech City. A city where the computers, TVs and even the microwaves are connected to the internet. In short, the whole world connected to every electrical appliance imaginable. Traveling in this internet is made easy by the invention of A.I. Avatars that work and play in this CyberWorld, called Net Navigators, or NetNavi for short. People use NetNavis as friends, work colleagues, to uphold the law and even for spreading viruses. There are some who use them for fights, also called Net Battles. These battles aren't illegal, but can only take place in Internet City's NetBattle Arena. Such battles are a spectacular show of power and skill. Even the weakest Navi can still put up a great fight.

A small standard NetNavi was locked in fierce battle with a wizard-like Navi, both wishing to be the victor of this duel. The small Navi belonged to a 16 year-old boy called Matt Cage, who had a fondness for technology and wolves, of all things. He preferred to keep his hair spiked, and always wore black. The other Navi, was Woodwiz.EXE. He belonged to a 20-year old male who loves to get a good challenge. He always wore black too and wore a strange hat and carried a staff-like stick around with him everywhere. Normally, the two were friends, but all friendship was gone at the first mention of a NetBattle, replaced with rivalry and hostilities.

"Woodwiz! Use the Cannon!" shouted Ray, watching the event unfold on his Personal Terminal (PeT for short).

Woodwiz pointed to a blank area on the arena floor, and a Cannon virus appeared almost instantly, which began to fire upon the smaller Navi. Despite being small, he was rather nibmle, and managed to dodge most of the shots. He was knocked back by a lucky shot by the virus.

"Gah!" shouted Matt, watching things from his PeT. "Use this! Battle Chip! Shotgun! Slot in!"

His Navi aimed his buster at the Cannon virus and fired, the shot splitting into multiple shots as it neared. The Cannon was deleted, and then the Navi turned his attention to Woodwiz. He fired again, and the shots hit their mark, but left no visible effect on Woodwiz, who simply wiped some dust off his cloak.

"You'll need to do better than that" said Woodwiz. "Hand Blaster!"

Woodwiz held out one hand, and multiple shots appeared from it and flew towards Matt's Navi. The small Navi tried to leap away, but was too slow. He screamed in pain as the shots sent him flying backwards. He slammed into the edge wall of the Arena and slowly pulled himself up.

"Battle Chip! Shockwave! Slot In!" shouted Ray, preparing to finish off Matt's puny Navi.

Woodwiz raised the pickaxe above his head and slammed it against the ground, sending a tremor towards Matt's Navi, who only stood and watched as his loss became immenint. The shockwave launched the Navi into the air, but he never hit the ground. He logged-out before he hit the ground. The crowd cheered as Woodwiz claimed another victory, and then logged-out himself.

"Hah! You call that a fight, Matt?" jeered Ray. "It'll be a THOUSAND years before you can think of taking on Woodwiz and me!"

Matt said nothing. He hung his head in shame, spun around and walked off. He could never beat Woodwiz, nor lay a finger on him. Ray had a better Navi, better chips ... in fact, he was superior in almost every way. Matt made his way back to his house in ACDC town, which was a rather quiet section of Dentech City. Matt lived with his parents in a small, yet comfortable house. His mother worked around the house, while his father worked as an electrician in Jo-Mon's Electronics in Electown. He pushed the door open and trudged through the living room and into his bedroom, where he threw his PeT into it's Computer Connection Terminal(where the PeT plugged into a PC) then threw himself onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Why do I always lose?" groaned Matt. "It can't be my technique, can it?"

"Our chances of winning versus Woodwiz.EXE are around 5.4" piped Matt's Navi in a high-pitched, robotic voice.

"Thank you, Mr. State-the-obvious" scowled Matt.

"You're welcome" replied the Navi, unaware of Matt's sarcasm.

Matt laid his head against his pillow and faced his wall, looking at the photos of his wolves he had back in Sharo.

"Man, you have no idea how much I'd give for a wolf-style Navi"

"A wolf-like Net Navigator would be highly improbably if you were to buy it. You would need to program your own Net Navigator from the beginning. You would also need a degree in Net Navigator Programming, along with a specialistin case of errors or defects"

"Just shut up, already"

"You have new E-mail. Would you like me to read it?"

"Who is it from?"

"It's from your Father. He says he can't make it home early tonight as he has to work late. He's also attatched some data, shall I open it?"

Matt leapt from the bed and over to the PeT.

"Yeah! Open it! I bet it's the new Navi I've been asking him for! I didn't think he'd ..."

The data had completed opening, and on the screen was the image for a Sword Battle Chip. Matt sighed and slotted in a blank chip so that the data would download. He got up and lay back down on his bed.

"I'm going to sleep now" he said, with definate disappointment in his voice. "Just do what you want now"

Within minutes of lying down, Matt was fast asleep. His Navi stood still for a few minutes after Matt had fallen asleep.

"What? Another attatchment on the E-mail? It's a PeT Operating System and a note. Hmm ... 'I know you'll like this - Dad'. Running Navigator Installation Program."

The screen on Matt's PeT went blue with white writing as the new data was installing, a white bar showing the progress of the installation. The installation took an hour to finish, then the screen went back to the normal PeT screen. Matt's default Navi still stood in the same position.

"Personal Terminal Operating System instalation complete. The Personal Terminal has been successfully upgraded. Running Navi.cfg"

Unknown to Matt, his Navi was about to change. His Navi's body began to disintegrate slowly into 1s and 0s. Eventually, it had completely disappeared. Then, the digits began to reform themselves, making different features to create something. They created an arm, a torso, a pair of pointed ears, a set of claws and even a tail. Slowly, they formed to create a Net Navi that resembled a wolf.

"Navi customisation complete. Wolfbase.EXE installed. Customisation ready for loading"

Still oblivious, Matt slept on, dreaming of getting the Navi he always dreamed of, a wolf who used fire masterfully and could finally defeat Woodwiz, once and for all. He rolled over but still slept. Wolfbase.EXE noticed this and shrugged.

"I can wait. Besides, it is kinda late. I might as well go on standby for now"

The screen of Matt's PeT darkened, and Wolfbase.EXE disappeared from view, leaving Matt's Father's note on the screen for Matt to read when he woke up. Matt had no idea of the surprise he would recieve when he woke up in the morning.


	2. Battle Chip! Slot In!

It was already 10 AM and Matt was still asleep. Fortunately, his school was on vacation, so he wouldn't miss anything. He rolled over, but rolled too far. He slipped off the edge oh his bed and slammed into the floor.  
"Ow" he said, groggily.  
The PeT on Matt's desk began to beep loudly, but Matt paid it no attention. He lifted himself up from the floor and almost walked past it. Something on the screen had caught his eye.  
"Huh? A note from Dad?"  
He read it to himself, then pulled his computer chair towards him and sat down. Matt reached out to press a button on his PeT, but it disappeared before he could do so, and Wolfbase.EXE appeared on the screen.  
"About time! You're a heavy sleeper" he joked. "I'm your new Navi and, if you like, you can customize me further"  
Matt still kept staring gorggily, not moving nor channging expression.  
"Uuuh, hello? You in there?"  
Matt rubbed his eyes and stared back at the Pet.  
"What, you think I wasn't real?"  
"Who are you?" asked Matt.  
"I'm your new Navi. You want me to load the customisation program?"  
"Uuh, how'd you get here?"  
"Simple! The PeT Operating System your Dad sent had my configuration file on it, so your old Navi must've installed it"  
"W-what's this you say about the customisation?"  
"That comes with the OS. You can customize me further, if you want to. Y'know, stuff like element, main weapon, attacks"  
Matt stared at the PeT again for a second, blinked then pushed a button, causing the Navi Customisation program to load up. He then moved over to his keyboard and began to type, his fingers dancing across the keys like demented ballroom dancers. Minutes passed and Matt was still typing, all the while Wolfbase's appearance was changing. Twenty minutes had passed since Matt woke with a bump, and he had finished customising his Navi. He switched his gaze from his PC monitor to his PeT Screen and marveled at his creation.  
Standing in the PeT was a dark-grey wolf with fire-red tips on his tail and ears. He certainly looked stronger and faster than before. Matt was pleased with himself. So much so that he grinned from ear to ear.  
"You want to apply this configuration? You won't be able to change it" said the Navi.  
"Yeah, this is what I want" said Matt, sitting back and watching the program run.  
"Okay, it's complete! You'll need to rename me, though"  
Matt leant back and thought for a second. He needed to give him a name, but what could he use? He needed something good. Something cool. Something that described him in a nutshell. Matt spun around on his computer chair, thinking up something suitable, while the Navi stood patiently and waited. Finally, Matt came up with a name.  
"I got it! I'll call you ... Firewolf.EXE" Matt said, grinning with anticipation as he did.  
Firewolf nodded, then said "So, you know who I am, but I don't know you"  
"I'm Matt. Matt Cage. It's great to have a Navi like you"  
"The pleasures all mine"  
Matt scooped up the PeT and hooked it onto his belt, which was where he normally kept it, anyway. He wanted to fight against Ray and beat him. He ran back into the city and straight into the NetBattle store, where he and Ray had duelled the day before. Matt pushed his way through the crowds. As was expected, Ray was showing his prowess by beating yet another Navi in a battle. He threw his arms up as a sort of victory pose.  
"Hah! No-one can beat me! Me and Woodwiz are INVINCIBLE!"  
"Hold it right there!" shouted Matt, grinning greatly. "I'll take you on!"  
"Pfft! What can you do? I beat your puny Navi good last time! You'd better be worth it!"  
Matt ran over to the other side of the table, and pulled the cable from his PeT and slammed it into the connection port on his end.  
"Jack in! Firewolf.EXE! Transmission!" he souted, as Firewolf beamed into the arena, facing Woodwiz.  
"Hmm, what do we have here? A pup who needs to be taught a lesson?"  
"Wrong! We'll be doing the teaching, here!"  
"A little mouthy too. We'll see how this end, but the probability of you winning is low! Even if you are a Fire Navi, you will still lose!"  
"We'll see!" shouted Matt. "Battle routines, set!"  
"Execute!" declared Firewolf, as he leapt into action.  
Woodwiz was the first to make a move.  
"Hand Blaster!"  
He held out his hand once more and the shots flew from his hand, careening towards Firewolf. Firewolf stood still, watching them approach. They were a dead aim, and they would hit him if he didn't move. Yet still he stood, watching them approach. He closed his eyes and listened to them hurtle towards him. Suddenly, he leaped up just as the shots were a few inches from him. They whizzed past as Firewolf flipped into the air. He spun himself round, cat-like in mid-air, and held out one arm. The arm then deployed itself into a buster which was aimed straight at Woodwiz. Firewolf fired a few shots at woodwiz, most of them hitting their mark and leaving damage. Woodwiz shouted out in pain as they hit, but it'd take more than that to take him down.  
"Battle Chip! Cannon! Slot in!" shouted Ray, jamming a chip into his PeT.  
A little off to the right, a Cannon cirus appeared and began to fire at Firewolf. He ran around, dodging each shot, yet getting closer to the virus all the time.  
"Battle Chip! Shotgun! Slot in!" exclaimed Matt, sending one of his own chips to Firewolf.  
Firewolf's buster began to glow white, and it grew slightly larger. He leapt towards the Cannon and fired one shot of his Shutgun at it, obliterating it instantly. He swished round and darted towards Woodwiz, who was preparing his next attack.  
"Battle Chip! Shockwave! Slot in!"  
Woodwiz brought the pickaxe down agaisnt the ground again, the shockwave kicking up dust as it hurtled towards Firewolf. Sensing danger, Firewolf leapt up into the air and fired a few shots of his shotgun at Woodwiz, who feebly held up his arms to block the attack.  
"Alright, Firewolf, let's finish this! Battle Chip! Sword! Slot in!"  
Firewolf's shotgun disappeared, and was replaced with a sword. Ray sensed the emminent sword-fight and sent one to Woodwiz.  
"Battle Chip! Longsword! Slot in!"  
As firewolf brought his sword down, slicing through the air, Woodwiz brought his sword up to parry the blow. Firewolf was knocked back, but wasn't knocked off his feet. He lunged forward again, both swords clashing against each other and creating a light-show that anyone would be jealous of. Clash after clash after clash came, but niether Navi seemed to be having an advantage over the other. Firewolf leapt back again, getting just out of range of Woodwiz's large swipe.  
"Battle Chip! Minibomb! Slot in!" shouted Matt, slamming his last chip into hus PeT.  
Firewolf's sword disappeared again, and a small bomb appeared in his outstretched hand. He threw it with all his might at Woodwiz.  
"Battle Chip! Metgaurd! Slot in!"  
Ray had sent another chip to Woodwiz. He may have had more chips, but would it be enough to win this battle? Firewolf's minibomb exploded harmlessly in front of Woodwiz, as a shield appeared and blocked the damage. Firewolf landed on the ground, and surveyed the carnage. Woodwiz still stood, yet was wounded. All he needed was to turn up the heat.  
"Firewolf, don't you have any attacks left?" asked Matt, desperate to win this fight.  
"Hmm ... I got it! I'll use my fire attacks!" was Firewolf's reply.  
Firewolf lifted one hand into the air, and watched as they burst into large flames. Woodwiz noticed this too, and took a step back. He didn't like fire at all. Firewolf looked back at Woodwiz, who was planning to dodge, but he would be too slow. Firewolf started at a slow walk, then sped up slowly to a jog, a run, then a flat out sprint. He ran as fast as he could, keeping his claws behind him. He was inches away from Woodwiz when he brought the claw forward, slashing Woodwiz and burning him with the power of his claws. Firewolf skidded to a halt as Woodwiz doubled over in pain, then logged out. A buzzer sounded, and then Matt realised it.  
"YEEEEAAAAAAAH!! WE DID IT!" he screamed excitedly.  
"Heck yeah! We won!" Firewolf shouted in reply, dancing around on the Arena floor in triumph.  
The whole crowd gathered around Matt, cheering and clapping and congratulating him on his victory. Ray, on the other hand, slumped down looking glum, and never said a word. Matt pushed his way past the mob of people and towards Ray, who still said nothing.  
"Hey, you put up a great fight" Matt said.  
Still, Ray said nothing.  
"That was fun, and a challenge"  
"...I didn't win" groaned Ray. "I lost to a little kid ... al because I was careless"  
"Don't say that! I haven't had a challenge like at all! We're still friend, but I have to thank you for being so tough. I wouldn't have enjoyed it if you weren't"  
"D'you really mean it?"  
"Yeah! You and Woodwiz are a great team! Even Firewolf would agree with me. We should battle again!"  
Matt held out one hand, offering it to Ray to shake. Ray stood for a second, then spoke.  
"You betcha! Next time, we'll win!"  
Ray grabbed Matt's hand and shook it vigorously. Both he and Matt were grinning from ear to ear. Both were happy that they were now the best of buddies.  
"MAAAAAT!" a voice called out from the crowd. "Matt, how could you do that? That was incredible!"  
A small boy wearing a gray Super Mario t-shirt, blue jeans and glasses pushed his way to the front. The only thing Matt could see at first was his thick, unkempt brown hair. This boy was Luke 'L-Drive' Modem, a friend of Matt's from ACDC High.  
"Hey, L-Drive! I didn't know you were here"  
"I was here! I saw it all! You were incredible! Even Cyberlink couldn't beat Woodwiz!"  
"Heheh" laughed Matt, blushing slightly.  
"Hey, make room! We got great Netbattler comin' though!" Shouted Ray, making motions with his arm for people to move aside.  
The crowd parted and made a passage to the exit. Matt, L-Drive and Ray all walked out of the store, together. They had barely left the store, when the commotion inside started again, with everyone chatting ot each other about the battle. L-Drive spun around to face Ray and Matt.  
"Hey! I got an idea! We've all got Custom Navis now, right? So why don't we form our own little gang!"  
"You mean like the ACDC Posse or something?" asked Ray.  
"Sure! Why not? Three unbeatable NetBattlers working together!"  
"Sounds like fun to me" added Matt.  
L-Drive held out one hand, then Matt placed his on top of it. He then jerked his head to beckon Ray to do the same.  
"Well ... Ah whatever! Count me in!"  
Ray placed his hand on top of the pile. Cyberlink then threw his hand up into the air, causing the others to do the same. All three of them shouted out loud, then laughed at their antics on the way back to ACDC town. They would have the strangest of adventures from now on...  
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Dentech City, someone was plotting something.  
"Hmm ... these Forbidden Chips ... they could destroy the whole Earth along with the Cyberworld? Sound like something I will need ..." said a dark voice in the shadows of a laboratory. "I must have them. The world will worship me in terror as I hold their lives in the balance. Nothing can stop this plan. All I need is ... oh yes, and some ... Ahahahahah! It's wonderful! UNBEATABLE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"  
No-one knew about this plot, or that the Forbidden Chips existed. Only the Net Officials knew, as they were the ones that kept it out of NetCriminal's hands.


	3. Rocking the Network

A few weeks had passed since Matt had created Firewolf, beaten and joined L-Drives 'posse' and the excitement was starting to die down, although that may have been that school had started again.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier!?" Shouted Matt as he ran down the street.

"Matt, I've been trying to wake you up for an hour, you kept sleeping!" replied Firewolf.

"You didn't try hard enough!"

"I did! I was at full volume!"

"Man, and today had to be the field trip, I was looking forward to it!"

Matt sprinted around a corner, then skidded to a halt, whirled around and sprinted the other way.

"Ack! Not that way, THIS way!"

Matt sprinted faster, knowing that he was late already. He lowered his head to try and push more speed out of each stride he took, but he was careless. Without realising, he ran headlong into someone in front of him. Both of them fell to the ground with a clatter, as both their battle chips flew from their pockets and spread onto the ground. Matt sat and rubbed his painful rear end.

"Owwww, that hurts!"

"Excuse me, please mind where you are going" said the other person, picking up his own chips from the ground.

"S-sorry"

Matt looked up and got a good look at the person in front of him. He was about Matt's age, with shoulder-length platinum blond hair. He wore a trenchcoat over his red waist coat, which almost covered his grey shirt. He also wore leather boots and dark blue trousers. He picked himself up off the ground, scooped his chips into his pocket and wiped some dust from his coat.

"Hmm, at least my laptop hasn't been damaged. Try to be more careful"

"W-wait, you're about my age, right?"

"Hmm? Well, I do attend ACDC High, if that's what you mean"

"You do!? Great! I do too! Say, you don't know where my class is, do you?"

"Yes, you're with them. I heard someone mention someone who looked like you"

"What were they saying?"

"That you'd be late, as usual"

Matt smiled and laughed weakly, he pulled himself up and looked around. As the boy had said, his class was just in front of him.

"Thanks for the help ... uuuh ..."

"Daniel Fear, but just call me Daniel"

"Sure! Are you with us?"

"I think so, anyway"

"MAAAAAATT!" shouted a voice from the crowd. Matt jumped suddenly and tried to look innocent.

"L-Drive! W-Where were you, I barely noticed ... you ... oh darn"

There was no fooling L-Drive. He looked as if he was about to explode.

"Let me explain..."

"EXPLAIN!! MATT, YOU PROMISED TO BE ON TIME FOR THIS BUT YOU WERE LATE! WHAT IS THERE TO EXPLAIN! I DON'T CARE WHY, YOU SHOULDN'T GO BACK ON A PROMISE!"

Matt doubled over as L-Drive shouted out loud, attracting strange looks from people around him. Matt looked around for an excuse to leave, but couldn't find one. Until...

"Hey! It's Ray! Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray..."

Matt ran off towards Ray, desperate to leave L-Drive's roasting behind him. L-Drive glowered, but followed soon after.

"Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray Ra-"

"Shut up, Matt, you're getting on my nerves!"

"Sorry, I just needed to escape from L-Drive for a moment" Matt whispered.

"I HEARD THAT!" shouted L-Drive, storming towards the duo.

"Here we go" groaned Matt.

"Hi, Ray. I was just telling Matt off for breaking a promise"

"Really? Was he late again?"

"Hey, Shut up! Firewolf didn't wake me up!"

"I tried to! You were the one who didn't wake up!"

"Whatever!"

"Class! Quiet down at the back" Shouted their teacher, Mr McKenna.

"Yes, sir" the kids chorused"

Standing in front of the crowd was a tall man with spiky brown hair. Next to him was Mr McKenna, who was slightly shorter and had smooth blond hair.

"Okay, we're going to be given a tour of the Science Labs by the famous NetBattler, Netto Hikari"

All at once, Matt, L-Drive, Daniel and Ray gasped out loud.

"THE Netto Hikari?" gasped one of the girls in the class.

"Yeah, that's me" Netto grinned. "I'll show you around and let you in on some of the developments you can expect real soon. Plus, I'll let you guys in on a few Virus Busting techniques that Rockman and I used to use"

The whole class shuffled forward, clamouring to be seen close to Netto. Matt and friends held back to say goodbye to Ray, before joining the swarming crowd.

"Here is the R&D room, where everything we've created is tested. There's nothing going on just now, though"

"Matt, isn't this place cool?"

Matt's mind was wandering. He was thinking of how the legendary Netto Hikari had defeated the World Three, Gospel and Nebula, all in his younger age. He was snapped out of it by Daniel bumping into him.

"Whoops, sorry about that, Matt"

"W-Wait for me!"

Matt ran after the crowd, and caught up with them quickly, as they hadn't moved far.

"Here's one of our newest developments" announced Netto. "This is what we call Cross Fusion. My Father created it, but when he died, we lost the procedures for it. We think we're close to a breakthrough, however"

Matt peered over the ledge and saw the equipment below. It all looked terribly complicated. There was strange equipment everywhere, queer-looking chips and scientists busying themselves with dials, levers, knobs and all manners of buttons. He couldn't even dream of understanding what was going on, despite knowing a lot about computers. Still, he had a desire to use Cross Fusion someday. A desire that he thought he'd never fulfil. He stared on, but was brought back to reality by L-Drive.

"Yo, we're moving again, keep up with us"

"This place is cool"

"Yeah, but I don't wanna have to babysit you! Keep up!"

As far as Matt was concerned, he just wanted to stay and watch that 'Drop Fishing' (or whatever it was) thing. On the Science Lab network, things were quiet. Alomst too quiet.

The science Navis went about their normal business, taking data from one computer to another, then back again, watching over the programs run the vital systems ... basically keeping everything in the Real World running as smoothly as possible. Suddenly, a single Metool virus appeared out of thin air. It looked around shyly, and hid under it's helmet when a Navi came to delete it. The Navi stood still, waiting to delete it completely, but it wouldn't budge. Unknown to that Navi, other viruses had appeared too.

"GARUUUU!!" growled something behind it.

The Navi spun around, ready to delete a single Garu virus, but was taken aback by the amount of them. There wasn't just one, there was closer to one hundred of them! The science Navi didn't stand a chance. Before it could even attempt to Plug-Out, it was deleted, leaving the viruses to disrupt everything on the Network. It seemed that no-one would know about this.

Back in the Real World, Matt's class were nearing the end of their field trip. Netto had just shown them the Science Control Room, where the computers kept everything in check.

"I hope you enjoyed the tour of our labs. Maybe one day, you'll be here making the latest discoveries!"

"Well, I'm sure we'd all like to thank Mr. Hikari for allowing us to visit, wouldn't we?" added Mr McKenna.

"Thank you, Mr. Hikari!" the whole class chorused.

"Any time!" smiled Netto, as he pushed the door open for the class ... or at least tried to.

"Huh? What's going on? The door shouldn't be locked"

Netto pushed the door harder, but still nothing happened.

"Hey! Who locked the door?"

Suddenly, the lab's sirens wailed out through the corridors and the crimson-red lights flashed violently, illuminating everyone in the hallway.

"What happened!" shouted Netto, pushing his way past the kids.

"Warning! Virus in main network!" said a computer voice, almost in reply to Netto.

"Darn! Rockman! Let's go!"

Netto pulled his PeT out of his pocket, and some of the kids in the class gasped. It was an honour to even SEE Netto's PeT.

"I'm ready, Netto! Let's go!" replied Rockman.

Netto ran down the hall and towards the Control Room. Matt, L-Drive and Daniel gathered together in a group.

"This sounds serious! Maybe we should help out?" said L-Drive.

"We can't, Mr. McKenna would go crazy!" replied Daniel.

"Yeah, but what if Rockman gets deleted?" added Matt.

"This is ROCKMAN, we're talking about! He's the STRONGEST Navi ever!"

"Matt, we could sneak down the hall while he's not looking. Let's give it a shot!" added Firewolf.

"Count me in too!" added Cyberlink. "Daniel could keep lookout for us"

Matt and L-Drive looked at each other, then looked at Daniel, who nodded and turned his head to face in Mr. McKenna's direction.

"Wait for it ... a few more seconds ... NOW!! Go!"

Matt and L-Drive dashed down the hall and around the corner. They stood panting for a second, before L-Drive grabbed Matt and dragged him down the hall to the Control Room door, where they both eavesdropped on what was going on.

"Rockman, watch out behind you!" shouted Netto, staring into his PeT screen.

"Ngh! There's just too many of them!"

"Hold on, I'm gonna send some chips!"

"Hurry! I don't know how much longer I can last!"

"Battle Chip! M-Cannon! Slot I-"

"GAAAAAAAH!"

"ROCKMAN!!"

Rockman didn't answer.

"ROCKMAN! ROCKMAN! ROOOCKMAAAAAN!!!!"

Matt ran forward without thinking, his PeT in his hand. He grabbed the cable and slammed it into the port on the console in front of Netto.

"Plug In! Firewolf.EXE! Transmission!" he shouted, as Firewolf was transported onto the Network.

"Huh? Who are you?" asked Netto, but it went upon deaf ears. Matt was concentrating on operating Firewolf more than anything else.

"Matt! Don't forget me!" Shouted L-Drive, running forward and slamming his PeT Cable into a free slot. "Jack In! Cyberlink.EXE! Transmission!"

Cyberlink beamed in next to Firewolf. He a strange looking Navi, since he was based on a cartoony hedgehog. He was completely blue with large spines, and wore a green tunic. One half of him was metal while the other half was normal. The two seemed extremely out of place in the Science Network, yet so did all the viruses.

"HOMING ATTACK!"

Cyberlink leapt into the air and morphed into a blue-green ball, that launched itself at many viruses in random succession, each of the viruses being deleted on contact.

"FIRE CLAW!"

Firewolf dashed forward and cleared a path through the sea of viruses, allowing him to get Rockman out of the horde and into relative safety. Rockman was out cold, but not deleted. Firewolf grabbed him with one paw and hurled him over the viruses, leaving Cyberlink and Firewolf surrounded as they all closed in.

"Damn, Rockman was right. There's too many" spat Firewolf.

"Well, I ain't going down without a fight!" replied Cyberlink.

"And how do you suppose we take them on?"

"Just keep shooting at them! That's my plan"

"And when they overwhelm us and are close to deleting us?"

"CHARGE SHOT!!" shouted a voice from the side.

A large blast wiped out most of the viruses, leaving Firewolf, Cyberlink and all of the viruses stunned. They turned around and saw Rockman standing with his buster smoking at the barrel.

"What are you waiting for? Get a move on!"

Both Firewolf and Cyberlink nodded and leapt into the air.

"Battle Chip! Shotgun! Slot In!" shouted Matt.

"Battle Chip! YoYo! Slot In!" shouted L-Drive.

Both of them slammed their chips into their PeTs and watched on as their Navis fought with all their strength. Rockman was taking out viruses using his Rockbuster, as it was powerful enough already. Firewols Fired his shotgun at a horde of Garu viruses, deleting them as they howled in pain. Cyberlink threw the YoYo at a group of Metools, who were deleted too. Only a few viruses remained, but they were taken out with relative ease. Firewolf's Fire Claw, Cyberlink's Homing Attack and Rockman's Rockbuster finished the job in no time at all. Firewolf cracked his knuckles as Cyberlink struck an outrageous victory pose.

"Seems like you guys are really into this" laughed Rockman. "You guys were good"

"It was an honour to fight alongside you, Master Rockman" said Cyberlink, bowing slightly.

"No need to call me Master, just Rockman will do. What are your names?"

"I'm Cyberlink! This is Firewolf"

"Cyberlink and Firewolf, huh? Sound like the most unlikely duo to be heroes"

Both Firewolf and Cyberlink laughed slightly.

"Well, I'd better get going. Netto has some research papers to finish off. He was always like that, even as a kid. He left everything until the last minute. Well, see ya!"

Rockman beamed out of the Network. Firewolf and Cyberlink did so too. Matt and L-Drive were proud of their Navis, having shown to Netto that they were good NetBattlers. Netto turned to face the two boys, and smiled at them.

"You kids remind me of myself when I was young. I always focussed on nothing but the battle at hand. I like that"

Matt and L-Drive felt a little embarrassed, but smiled anyway.

"Tell you what. Drop by the lab again tomorrow. I'll have a little gift for you both"

Matt and L-Drive blinked in disbeleif, then echoed "Okay!"

"MATT! LUKE!" boomed Mr. McKenna's voice, as he stormed through the hallway. "YOU TWO ARE IN BIG TROUBLE! YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE RUN OFF!"

"Uuh, excuse me, but these two helped delete the viruses in the system. We owe them our thanks" interrupted Netto.

Mr McKenna blinked, then walked off saying nothing. Netto sighed, then said "You guys have it tough from him, huh?"

The two nodded and ran off, waving to Netto and smiling at the same time. They caught up with the group and managed to fight their way through the crowd to Daniel.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"Great! We deleted them all and saved Rockman!" replied L-Drive.

"Plus, we're getting something from Netto himself!" added Matt.

"Quiet, class!" said Mr McKenna. "Now, thanks to the unforseen delay, and the disappearance of TWO PUPILS, school is now ended, Please return home at once. Class dismissed"

The crowd dispersed outside the labs as each child went their own seperate ways, except Matt, L-Drive and Daniel, who were making plans.

"Hey, let's meet in ACDC Square! It just opened and it sounds like fun!" piped L-Drive.

"Sure! I'll be there as soon as I get home!" replied Matt.

"I can't, my Navi is broken" groaned Daniel.

"Damn, that sucks. Let us know how it's repair comes along"

"Sure. Look, I have to run, so I'll see you guys later. Bye"

Daniel ran off without saying any more, leaving Matt and L-Drive confused.

"What's with him?"

Daniel didn't stop running until he came to a bush, which he hid behind. He pulled out a black PeT from his pocket and turned on the screen. On the screen stood a twenty-foot tall Knight Navi called Omega. Daniel grinned evily and spoke to Omega.

"Time to cause a little havok on the Cyberworld, Omega"

"GRAAAAAAAWWWWRRR!" roared Omega, as he was jacked into the net through a nearby lamp post.


	4. Omega Theory

Omega had been causing trouble in the Official's Network for a while now. He couldn't find a Navi who knew where the Forbidden Battle Chips were kept, so he just smashed everything and deleted Navis until someone would tell him. The Official Navis tried their hardest, but couldn't stand up to Omega's firepower.

"MEGA CANNON!" shouted one of the Navis, firing a large blast at Omega.

Omega simply sliced the blast with his huge sword, then smashed the Navi into the ground with his fist. Navi after Navi after Navi threw themselves at Omega to slow his progress into the main server, where the information to the Chip's location was held, but each one failed miserably and were deleted instantly. Omega stomped forwards, brushing off the shots that were fired at him, then slicing whoever attacked him in two. Sirens began to wail as Omega approached the server, the data he wanted floating in plain view. Thoustands of Navis jacked into the area and stood ready to send Omega packing. Omega just grinned.

"Omega, delete them and take the data. That's all we need" ordered Daniel.

The Navis fired shots from their busters at Omega, who just stood as if nothing happened. They fired again. This time, Omega grabbed his titanic sword and sliced them all again. He continued on, the sirens wailing louder and louder. Nothing could stop him now. He held out one hand, and the data slowly made its way into it. Omega examined it, then clenched his fist hard as he downloaded the data into his PeT's memory.

"Let's leave something for them to remember us by, Omega. Darkness bomb"

Omega opened his other hand and dropped a large bomb where he stood. He jacked out and re-appered in Daniel's PeT. The Official Navis who had jacked in looked around, then ran towards the bomb. A large crowd gathered around, and then it exploded, sending black shockwaves through the entire network ... then crashed it. The Officials had failed.

"Nice work, Omega. We know where the Chips are. But let's cause a bit of a stir, first" demanded Daniel, sensing his rise to power at hand.

"Gwaaaarrr!" growled Omega, almost as if in acknowledgement.

Meanwhile, Firewolf and Cyberlink were talking at ACDC Square. Firewolf was late, as usual.

"Firewolf, where ya been? I've been waiting here for ages!" Shouted Cyberlink to an exhausted Firewolf.

"Matt forgot about his homework, plus there was some trouble on the way with a broken acess point. Not to mention the viruses running around"

"Excuses as always, Firewolf"

"Hey, it's true!"

"Suuuure. By the way, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Apparently, the N1 Grand Prix is going to start soon! Preliminaries have already started"

"Really? I'd kill at the change to be part of it!"

"They're not taking any more applicants right now, though. They've got their hands full taking care of who they already have!"

"Darn, that's not good. I was gonna OWN those prelims!"

"You wouldn't beat me"

"Wanna bet?"

"Don't make me give you the snip"

"You don't have the guts to take me on!"

"Oh really? NetBattle Arena. 5 minutes"

"I'll be there!" rinned Firewolf, before he beamed away.

Cyberlink had done the same and was already waititing in the arena. The arena seats were packed, ready for this battle.

"Let's see who is better!" growled Firewolf.

"May the best Navi win!" smiled Cyberlink.

They were ready to start, but the signal didn't sound. Instead, there was a loud crash and the sound of screaming. Omega had arrived. He towered over everyone in the arena, causing Navis everywhere to flee in panic. Only two stood their ground; Firewolf and Cyberlink. They stared at Omega as he stared at them, then he pulled out his sword and swiped at them both. They were the more agile, so they managed to leap over Omega's blade. They looked at each other, nodded, then started their assault on Omega.

"Battle Chip! High Cannon! Slot-In!" shouted L-Drive, slamming the chip into his PeT as fast as he could.

Cyberlink took aim as his hand morphed into a Cannon, then fired it at Omega. It had no effect on him at all.

"CRUD! This guy's gonna be tough!" Chouted Cyberlink.

"Amateur" said Firewolf. "Let me show you how it's done!"

"Battle Chip! Area Steal! Longsword! Double Slot In!" Shouted Matt, slamming both chips into his PeT in quick succession.

Firewolf disappeared from where he was standing, just as Omega slammed his fist down. He reappeared on Omega's shoulder and drove the sword straight into Omega's neck. All it did was break instantly. Firewolf stood and stared in disbeleif, before Omega grabbed him and slammed him into the ground.

"FIREWOLF!!" Screamed Cyberlink. "THAT DOES IT! HOMING ATTACK!"

Cyberlink morphed into a ball and launched himself at Omega, hitting his body randomly. It did no good either. It only made Omega angrier. He lifted his hand and swatted Cyberlink as if he was nothing but a fly. Cyberlink flew through the air and smashed against a wall, before landing next to Firewolf, who had barely managed to haul himself up from the ground.

"You okay?" Firewolf asked Cyberlink.

"I-it's nothing ... It's just ... a scratch" he groaned.

"That things too powerful! We can barely touch it. LOOK OUT!"

Omega had swiped with his sword again. Firewolf had grabbed Cyberlink and leapt out of the way in the nick of time. Omega's sword had only managed to slice a little hair from the tip of Firewolf's tail. They landed in the stands, which were now deserted. Omega began to stomp forwards, determined to delete the two ... permanently.

"HAND BLASTER!" Shouted a voice from behind the pair.

The attack hit, but didn't do any damage. It was simply a diversion. Firewolf and Cyberlink turned around and were face-to-face with Woodwiz.

"Hurry!" He shouted, charging a shot from his buster. "This is simply a diversion! Jack out now!"

"We can't jack out here!" shouted Cyberlink. "Omega is blocking the jack-out procedures!"

"Then run! I'll hold him off!"

"But..."

"No time for arguing" said Firewolf, as he hauled Cyberlink up onto his shoulders and ran.

Omega was preoccupied with Woodwiz, but not for long. He turned his attention back to Firewolf and Cyberlink. He brought his sword crashing down in front of them, forcing Firewolf to leap over the gap he had created with the blow. Rubble flew everywhere as Omega swiped again, barely missing the escaping duo. Woodwiz fired off his charged shot, which seemed to have annoyed Omega. He brought up his hand and thrust it forward, jamming Woodwiz between his hand and a wall.

"WOODWIZ! Darn, we'd better go, pal!" Firewolf growled.

Firewolf didn't stop running. Omega had returned to delete them both, but Firewolf was having none of it. Omega's sword crashed through the stands once more, and Firewolf leaped over it. Again and again, Omega caused more damage to the Arena's stands, turning them from normal seats to a jumbled mess. Omega brought his sword crashing down again. Firewolf leapt into the air once more, the exit only yards away. He didn't see it coming. Omega punched them both with his other hand, hurling them towards the far wall. Niether of them could take any more damage. If they were attacked now, it would be over. Omega brought his sword up for the final blow to Firewolf. He could only watch.

Omega didn't notice anything. Another Navi had begun to appear in the Arena. The new figure stood stock still, then clapped their hands in mid-air, catching the blade and stopping Omega's attack. Firewolf managed to look up and see the who had saved him. Before him stood a female with long brown hair, wearling all black, except her boots and gloves, which were a sort of creamy color. She held the blade in her hands as if it was nothing.

"Strong ... huge ... stupid ... Fine for me, since you're going down anyway" she said, with a slight croak in her voice.

She twisted her hands and snapped Omega's blade in two. She grabbed the piece she had with one had and threw it at Omega, where it became embedded in his shoulder. Omega growled in pain, but that was short lived. The female Navi held out a pole, which turned into a scythe. Leaping into the air, she slashed Omega violently with it, one after another after another after another, each time, Omega recoiling with pain. Firewolf could've sworn that the new Navi's body seemed to become blurry, then clear again randomly. This new Navi was something else. She kept slashing and slashing, causing Omega to step back to avoid the pain. With one kick, the Navi sent Omega crashing to the ground, where he jacked out immediately. The Navi slid her scythe back into a holder on her side, lit a cigar and began to smoke it. She then walked back to Firewolf and the others, staring at him scornfully.

"Whoa, you're good" gasped Firewolf. "What's your name?"

"..."

"I'm Firewolf. And you are?"

"Morrigan"

"How did you do that? That was awesome!"

"Training" said Morrigan, her voice becoming slightly distorted, which was solved as she took a puff of her cigar. "Lots of training"

"H-hey, are you okay? You sound ... strange"

"I'm fine. You're such an amateur"

"What!?"

"Almost getting yourself deleted like that. And you call yourself a NetNavi?"

"What is it with you? You seemed okay a few seconds ago"

"Just shut up and listen. You need to get into shape, unless you want the same thing to happen again"

Morrigan became fuzzy once more, but returned to normal.

"Whoa, you don't look too good. Lemme check..."

Firewolf stepped forward to help Morrigan, but she didn't take ti it very well.

"Don't touch me, mutt! I don't need your charity"

"Hey, I just wanna help you out"

"I said, I don't NEED your CHARITY"

Morrigan kicked Firewolf in the stomach, knocking him onto the ground. She bent over and blew a puff of smoke in his face.

"You're pathetic. Only the srong survive in this world. You'll see"

Morrigan began walking off and jacked out of the area. Firewolf pulled himself off the ground as Cyberlink and Woodwiz made their own ways over to him.

"You okay?" Woodwiz asked.

"Yeah ..." said Firewolf, his voice sounding rather distant. "...I'm fine ..."

"Forget about what that Morrigan said, you're pretty strong if you could take that amount of damage"

"It's not that ... she seems to have something wrong with her"

"Like?"

"I don't know, but I think she gets her power from it"

"Whatever, Firewolf. We'd better Jack-Out and let our perators know we're okay"

"Sure..." said Firewolf, his thoughts still with Morrigan.

The trio jacked out, and returned safely to their PeTs. Today had been a challenge on them all, even to Daniel. Unknown to anyone, Daniel and Omega were already planning their revenge on Morrigan.

"We need to be stronger!" shouted Daniel in his room. "We need to defeat anyone who stands in our way! That Morrigan is a trouble to us, but we cannot let her win! We cannot let her ruin my chances of continuing my Grandfather's plans! Everyone feared Wily ... and they will fear him again!"


	5. Getting down with Soul

Omega didn't track down the data. Instead, he was kept in Daniel's PeT, locked away and preparing for the next oppertunity to strike. Morrigan had disappeared without a trace, and the talk of Omega's attack was still the gossip of the day.

"Did you hear?" whispered a CivilianNavi. "Some huge Navi attacked the NetBattle Arena and destroyed it!"

"No kidding!" replied a GuardNavi. "I saw it all! No-one could stop it!"

"Then what happened to it?"

"Some other SuperNavi forced it to jack out. It just held out one hand and poof! It was gone"

SuperNavi. That was the term that people used to describe Omega and Morrigan. No-one had seen power like that. The tale of Omega and Morrigan had been told so often, the truth had mingled with fiction. Everyone had heard at least three versions of it. Omega got bored, Morrigan deleted Omega, they both deleted each other, they both deleted everything and left ... the truth of it was lost behind the exagguration. Only a few knew the real story, and those few were at school, at this moment.

"MATT! Pay attention! You barely make the grade as it is!"

"Sorry, Mr. McKenna" Matt groaned.

Yet again, Matt had been sorting through his Battle Chips than paying attention to the Maths lesson. Who cared about sine curves and quadratic equations? Not Matt, for one. He would just sit and clock-watch, unless it was Virus-Busting class. It was pretty much the only class he was good at. Time ticked past. Soon, Matt and L-Drive would rush through the school doors and head to the Science Labs. Netto's gift was waiting for them both. The suspense was killing them both. L-Drive was clock-watching too, but made a better attempt at hiding it than Matt did. Still, the school bell didn't ring.

"...curves up until it reaches its highest point, known as the turning point, and then curves downwards until it reaches the x-axis, when it will curve up..."

Matt didn't remove his eyes from the clock, mesmerised by the spontaneous movements of the second hand.

"...and reach a point of intermediation. Unlike the turning points, the curve would continue on it's path upwards, or downwards in some cases, until we either run out of space or hit anither turning point..."

L-Drive was beginning to count down the seconds already. 50 seconds left! No, wait. 92 seconds left.

"...using the formula Y minus C equals M X plus B, you can work out the gradient along X and Y intersects of the curve. Would anyone care to work out the gradient for me?"

The class was silent.

"Luke, how about you?"

L-Drive snapped out of his trance, looking worried and surprised.

"Ah, well, erm, uuuh, you would, uumm"

"Were you paying attention?"

"Y-yes"

"It doesn't seem that way, Mr. Modem. Now, please answer my question"

"Uuh, okay, think of something random" he thought.

"Well?"

"Three point six?"

Mr. McKenna stool still for a second, staring straight at L-Drive.

"Correct, although I was expecting two and three fifths"

L-Drive sighed a breath of releif, just as the school bell rang. Matt and L-Drive grabbed their things and disappeared though the door, sprinting all the way. Daniel and Mr. McKenna looked on with a confused look.

"Heh, trust those two to get excited" laughed Daniel.

Minutes later, the two arrived at the reception of the Science Lab. Rather out of breath, but they had arrives none the less. Firewolf and Cyberlink were just as excited at their operators.

"Wow, it's finally here!! I couldn't take the wait any longer!" Shouted Firewolf, bounding around hyperactively in his PeT.

"You and me both!" replied Cyberlink, who was bouncing off the walls randomly in his PeT.

"Heh, calm down, guys. We don't want to cause a racket" interrupted L-Drive, not realising Matt running around too.

"Wow, we're gonna get something cool from Netto! It's gonna be cool. REALLY cool! ULTRA COOL! PERFECTLY COOL!!"

L-Drive just sighed, then turned to the receptionist. "Hi, we've got an appointment to see Dr. Netto Hikari?"

"Ah, there you two are" said Netto, walking to meet them from the corridor. "Heh, I see your buddy's excited" He laughed, pointing to Matt, who was now running in circles holding his PeT in front of him.

"Yeah, he gets like that" smiled L-drive weakly, trying not to become embarrassed.

"It's gonna be ULTRA SUPER PERFECTLY COOL!!" Shouted Matt, who had now just bumped into Netto. "Erm, hi"

Netto laughed, then beckoned them both to follow him. They walked through a long corridor and through many doors, until finally reaching Netto's office.

"Well now, where did I put that ..." said Netto to himself, looking around on his desk, which was rather untidy. "It should be around here somewhere..."

"What is it?" asked Matt. "Oof!"

"Shut up!" whispered L-Drive, who nudged Matt in the ribs. "Be polite around Netto"

"It's a chip folder I used when I was a kid" replied Netto, petending not to notice L-Drive's actions. "Plus I want to put you two to the test. Ah, here they are"

Netto stood up and handed a bag of Battle Chips to both Matt and L-Drive. He stood up and sat down on the chair at his desk.

"Have you two ever heard of a Program Advance?"

"Program Advance?" asked Matt.

"A Program Advance!? I've heard of them but never seen one!" shouted L-Drive.

"Well, I'm going to teach you one of the Program Advances I used a lot. Jack in and Rockman will show you the ropes"

The two nodded, and pulled out their PeTs.

"Jack In!"

"Firewolf.EXE!"

"Cyberlink.EXE!"

"Rockman.EXE!"

"TRANSMISSION!"

The network was already set up for them, with targets shaped like various viruses for them to practice on. Firewolf looked around for Rockman, and founf him standing in front of a target.

"Okay, watch this!"

"Battle Chip! Sword!"

Rockman's left arm transformed into a Sword.

"Widesword!"

His other hand transformed into a Widesword.

"Longsword! Slot In!"

Both swords disappeared, and a large, bright blade hovered above Rockman's head. He brought up both arms to grab the blade, and sliced the air in front of him with it. Firewolf didn't expect it to hit, but it created a shockwave that tore through the target like wire through cheese. He stood gobsmacked, just like Cyberlink. Rockman grinned at them both.

"Okay, now you try it" he said to Firewolf. "Let's see if you got what it takes"

Firewolf stepped up nervously, slightly worried that he wouldn't do it right.

"Try to breathe together" Rockman advised. "The timing is everything. 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3"

Matt slowed his breathing and tried his best to match it with Firewolf's. It was difficult to keep his mind clear of all other things, but he was determined to try it. He picked up the first chip.

"Battle Chip! Sword!"

"Sword!" said Firewolf, as he held out one arm and it morphed into a shining blade.

"Widesword!"

"Widesword!" repeated Firewolf, as his other arm became a wide blade.

"Longsword! Slot In!"

"Longsword!" Firewolf said, this time almost in unison with Matt.

He brought both his paws up and grabbed hold of the blade slowly. It felt warm in his paws, yet he knew that it was full of destructive power. Like a gentle giant. He stared at the blade, rather than use it. He couldn't beleive he had summoned it. The Program Advance.

"This sword ... it's like nothing I've seen before" he said as he held it up high.

"We did it, Firewolf!"

"Not yet" interrupted Netto. "Use it to complete the Program Advance"

"Okay! Firewolf, use that sword against the target!"

Firewolf grinned and nodded. "BETA SWORD!!"

He sladhes it through the air and watched as the shockwave sliced through the air. He stood stock still as it approached the mock-virus. He was unaware that the Program Advance didn't last forever. The sword in his paws disappitated into thin air almost instantly. He looked at them, wondering where it had gone. His eyes darted back to the shockwave, which disappitated too.

"Did it hit!?" aksed Matt.

The view spoke for itself. Rather than the target staying in one piece, the top half slid off slowly, then fell to the ground. It wasn't as powerful as Rockman's Beta Sword, but it was a start.

"WE DID IT!" Shouted Matt at the top of his voice. "We did the Beta Sword Program Advance!"

"Yeah!" shouted Firewolf, full to bursting with excitement and enthusiasm. "We can take on anything now!"

Cyberlink was up next, and things happened exactly the same way, except that Cyberlink's Beta Sword was a little more powerful. He didn't hang around to gawk at the sword. The pair had completed the training to a level that Netto was proud of. He bode them farewell as they left, filled with joy. They had learned the Program Advance in less than an hour.

"Heh, this is SOOOOO cool!" grinned L-Drive. "A new ability that no-one else knows!"

Matt didn't say anything. He just walked home and grinned all the way. They decided to stop off at a Coffee shop to buy a soda and maybe some cookies. Just as Matt sat down, his PeT rang out.

"You got an E-mail from Mom! Uh oh, that's not good"

"What is it?"

"You forgot to tell Mom you were going to the Science Labs! She's pretty riled!"

"Uuuh, whoops. Tell her I'm at the coffee shop with L-Drive. She'll understand"

"I hope so! Last time you forgot was pretty bad"

L-Drive came over holding a tray with their sodas and some chocolate cookies. He sat down next to Matt and checked his PeT screen.

"Again? Matt, you're pretty forgetful"

Matt took a sip from his soda. He noticed a man with long brown, hair sitting at a table opposite him, glancing at his PeT randomly. He wore a sky-blue top and grey pants, but nothing that would mark him out in a crowd. Matt caught a glimpse of his Pet, but he turned it away from him as soon as he did. The figure on the screen looked familiar...

"Hey, Matt. What's up?" said L-Drive, snapping Matt out of it.

"Oh, just that guy over there seems to be trying to get a good look at Firewolf. He looks ... well, weird. His Navi looks familiar too"

"Meh, don't worry about it. It'll be nothing"

The man got up from his seat and stuffed his PeT into his pocket. Matt managed to catch one final glimpse of the Navi. Whoever it was had long brown hair that flowed around its shoulders. Still, Matt wanted to know more.

"Wait until Daniel hears about this Program Advance!" said L-Drive.

"Yeah, he'll be sooo jealous!"

"We'd beat him in a NetBattle, anyway!"

"Well, his Navi is broken, so we can't fight him"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that"

"I wonder how it's getting on. Maybe we should take it to Netto?"

"I'll suggest it next time I see him"

Minutes later, the pair finished their snack and headed towards the exit. Matt was blabbing on to L-Drive about the chips that Netto had given them, which were all good ones. Without realising it, he walked right into the door.

"Ouch!"

"Hey, you okay? That looked pretty sore"

"Yeah, it was. Wait, wasn't this door automatic?"

L-Drive gave the door a slight push. It was locked tight.

"It's not closing time already, is it?"

The lady at the cash register shook her head. The door had locked itself.

"Must be a virus, but I don't know how to delete them" she said.

"Leave that to us, 'mam" grinned L-Drive, as he and Matt pulled out their PeTs.

"Let's go!"

"Jack-In! Firewolf.EXE!"

"Cyberlink.EXE!"

"Transmission!"

Firewolf and Cyberlink beamed in, and were greeted by the view of vines ensnaring everything they could see, including the door program. Other Navis were in the area, but were out cold. Only Firewolf and Cyberlink were active. A laugh from behind them made them jump.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" rang out a deep voice.

They spun around, and saw a Navi that seemed to be composed entirely of vines. Only his head was visible, with vines forming long hair that flapped around behind him.

"Who are you!?" demanded Cyberlink.

"Who am I? I am the gardener around here. I can't leave this fertile network go to waste, so I let my vines grow here"

The Navi threw one hand in their direction. His fingertips shot out towards them and bowled both of them over like pins in a bowling alley. They pulled themselves to their feet after that, and held out their arms, which transformed into busters.

"Tell us who you are before we delete you!"

"Fiesty little ones. I am Vineman! And I'll be the one doing the deleting!"

Vines shot up from the ground, and surrounded them both. Vineman's laughing could be heard from the other side of this green wall. Matt was on the move with his first Battle Chip.

"Battle Chip! Flame To-"

"WAIT!" interrupted L-Drive. "If you were to use that, the entire network would be up in flames! That's not a good idea. Leave it to Cyberlink"

Cyberlink brought out his sword, and slashed at the vines. They fell apart instantly, creating an opening for them to escape.

"Easy as pie!" he grinned.

"Not really" replied Firewolf, looking at the gap.

The vines had regrown and the hole closed up quickly.

"We're gonna need some bigger guns. Matt! L-Drive! Try the Program Advance!"

"All right, Firewolf" replied Matt.

"BATTLE CHIP!" Both of them reached into their pockets and brought out the three chips.

"SWORD! WIDESWORD! LONGSWORD!"

The chips sent instantly and the Beta Sword materialised above Firewolf and Cyberlink's heads. They reached up to grab it as fast as they could.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Vineman.

The vines around the duo came crashing down upon them both, knocking them to the ground. When the vines returned to their original position, the Beta Sword was gone.

"Damn!" cursed Matt.

"Hah, did you think I would allow you to do that? Foolish humans!"

Firewolf pulled himself up off the ground. He wad a few bruises, but was still okay.

"Matt, send me a chip!"

"Battle Chip! Minibomb! Triple Slot In!"

Firewolf threw the minibombs upwards, straight towards an opening in the vines. If he was lucky, they would roll down the outside and explode near Vineman. Unfortunately, Lady Luck was not on his side. The vines gathered together and closed the gap. The bombs bounced off harmlessly and fell back down.

"OH CRAP!" Shouted Firewolf.

The exploded near to them, slamming them against the vine-wall. Vineman grinned on te other side, knowing his victory was near. The vines grabbed hold of the duo and wrapped themselves around them both, holding them in a vice-grip. The other vines retreated into the ground as Vineman strutted towards them both.

"I told you. I'll be the one doing the deleting. But since you were rather fun to fight against, I'll give you a choice. You can be food for my plants, or I can delete you here and now"

Cyberlink scowled at Vineman and didn't answer. Firewolf struggled to break free, but it was no use. He was held tight. Vineman moved over to Firewolf.

"Y'know, I expected more from you. You are a fire-type Navi, after all. But you proved pretty useless against me. You could say that I smothered your flame"

Vineman laughed loudly, as it echoed through the network.

"Goodbye, it was nice knowing you"

Firewolf growled, and then screamed out in pain. The vines were trying to crush them completely. Vineman walked off and stood laughing at their pain.

"FIREWOLF! FIGHT IT! YOU CAN DO IT!"

"COME ON, CYBERLINK! SLICE YOUR WAY OUT!"

It was no use. Neither Navi could move. They were going to be deleted and there was nothing they could do about it.

"F-Firewolf. It was fun" Cyberlink struggled to say

"..."

"We've overcome a lot of things. Viruses ... Omega ... NetBattles ... Woodwiz at NaviKareoke"

"Heh, that last one was fun"

"Yeah, but I guess it ends here. You've been the greatest friend I've ever had"

"..."

"You too L-Drive. It's been fun"

"Cyberlink..." L-drive said sorrowfully into his PeT.

"Firewolf! You can do it, you can get out of this ... just fight ... Firewolf ..."

"Goodbye ... Firewolf"

Matt stared into his PeT, and closed his eyes. It was over. Or so he thought.

On the network, Firewolf and Cyberlink began to glow brightly. L-Drive saw this too, and stared at his PeT. He nudged Matt, who opened his eyes and saw the glow too. The vines shot out randomly into the air and the two balls of light moved closer to each other. Only Firewolf and Cyberlink could see what was going on.

Firewolf stood in front of Cyberlink, both their eyes closed as they floated in mid-air. A smaller ball of green light shot from the symbol on Cyberlink's chest and disappeared into Firewolf's symbol. Firewolf's entire body began to glow as he changed slowly. The darker fur on his body became a blue color similar to Cyberlink's, and one of his arms grew a metal shield. A green tunic also appeared, which draped down to about his knees. The glowing disappeared suddenly, and the duo fell to the ground and landed neatly as if nothing had happened to them earlier. L-Drive and Matt stared on in disbeleif.

"W-What the heck happened!?" exclaimed Matt.

"Firewolf looks like Cyberlink!"

"You didn't notice?" said Cyberlink. "When you jacked into Netto's network, a patch was installed on Firewolf. He can gain the abilities of other Navis, like what's just happened right now"

"What?"

"In short, our souls have become one! It's called Soul Unison!"

"Soul Unison ... Let's see what this can do!"

Firewolf drew a sword, similar to Cyberlink's. They looked at each other and grinned.

"Let's see which of my skills you get, buddy" smiled Cyberlink. "HOMING ATTACK!"

"HOMING ATTACK!" Shouted Firewolf, as both of them morphed into a ball and flew at Vineman.

"W-What? NOOOO! This can't be!"

Both of them knocked Vineman over and onto the ground. They landed near him and held their swords in front of them.

"CYBER BLADE!" They shouted at once, as they sliced their swords in front of them. An electic shockwave shot from Cyberlink's sword, and a fire wave from Firewolf's. Vineman looked on with a look of complete petrification on his face as they came into contact with him.

"I-impossible" he croaked as he flew through the air.

He didn't even get to hit the ground. He disintegrated into blocks, and the words "PLUG-OUT" appeared in his place before he disappeared. The vines disappeared too and the Network was restored to normal. Cyberlink turned to Firewolf. He winked and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Heh, it was nothin'!" he replied, before they both jacked out.

Matt removed the blank chip from his PeT. He stared at Cyberlink's logo on the chip, then grinned and put it into his pocket.

"Soul Unison, huh? Cool"

"Looks like Cyberlink left his mark on Firewolf" grinned L-Drive.

"We can use that chip any time, now" explained Firewolf. "We can kick butt with the speed of Cyberlink, and the power I have"

"I can't wait for our next battle! But one thing bugs me"

"What?" asked L-Drive.

"Who was operating Vineman? And why did he attack here? It doesn't make sense"

Matt stared down the street. It was getting late and the sun was beginning to set already. It was the end to a rather eventful day, for them both. Still, trouble was brewing elsewhere...

"IDIOT! You should NOT have let them win! YOU ARE USELESS! USELESS! I don't know why I don't sack you now! Instead, I'll use you for another purpose. The Forbidden Battle Chips. I want them. You shall get them for me. Otherwise ... you will rue the day you came to me"

A shadow in a run-down building was talking to someone via a cellphone. They hadn't been used in years, so they were untraceable. The shadow slammed the cellphone onto the table, and moved over to a large computer screen.

"Hmph, the world shall bow down before me. If only Dr. Wily and Dr. Regal were here to see me now. They would recognise my potential for world domination. The world will be mine and NO-ONE will stop me!"


	6. Shadow Destruction

A few days passed by, rather uneventfully. Matt and L-Drive had mastered the Program Advance, NetCrime dropped slowly and Ray kept training hard in order to defeat Firewolf. He never did, but each battle was as grand as the one before.

"Hand Blaster!"

Woodwiz's held out one hand, and launch an attack that threatened to end the match prematurely.

"Not so fast!" interrupted Matt. "Battle Chip! MetGaurd! Slot-In!"

The blasts pinged harmlessly against a shield that covered Firewolf from damage. He wasn't worried one bit about losing.

"Let's finish this!" He smiled. "Matt, try the Program Advance!"

"Battle Chip! Sword ... Longsword ... Widesword ... Slot-IN!"

Each chip was slid into Matt's PeT in turn with almost perfect timing. The Beta Sword hovered over Firewolf, who grabbed hold of it, knowing how to handle its power more than before.

"BETA SWORD!"

He swiped the sword in front of him, and the shockwave careened towards Woodwiz. Ray grinned slightly, probably knowing it was all over. The wave made contact with Woodwiz, and created a large flash of light.

"YES! We did it again, Firewolf"

"Not so fast, Matt. You're too hasty"

The light cleared, and so did the smoke. Woodwiz was still standing ... with a MetGuard chip active.

"Never count your Battle Chips before they're downloaded!" Ray grinned.

"No problem, we'll just take this here and now"

"Give me your best shot!"

"Fine"

Matt fumbled in his pocket, and brought out three new chips.

"Battle Chip! Cannon! High-Cannon! Mega-Cannon! Slot In!"

"W-What!? Where did you get those chips?"

"They were in the pack that Netto gave me. I found this Program Advance on my own!"

Firewolf held out one arm. Rather than it transform into a small cannon, it morphed into a large block with holes for varying powers of blasts. He grinned, aimed then fired. All at once, shots flew from each barrel and exploded around Woodwiz. His MetGuard had ran out, so he was done for. The explosions rocked the network, literally. Bystanding Navis found it difficult to stay upright as blast after blast hit Woodwiz's area, leaving behind devastation. The dust cleared once more, and Woodwiz was nowhere to be seen. He had logged out as a result of losing. Firewolf jacked out to return to Matt's PeT.

"Heh, I knew you only had one MetGuard, you use the same folder over and over. You need to have a bit of variation between battles" Matt advised.

"Yeah. You're right, I guess. Maybe you can teach me those Program Advances sometime?"

"Heh, maybe once you manage to beat Firewolf, huh?"

"Looks like I'm gonna be waiting for a while"

"Nah, you'll do it sooner or later"

The duo exited the NetBattle store. The staff had become to know them for being regulars, and were thankful for it. Matt and Ray's fights always brought in all the NetBattlers from miles around, all vying to see Matt use his Program Advances. L-Drive didn't show off as much as Matt did. He was always fine-tuning Cyberlink's programming so that he would be more powerful than ever. As for Daniel ... he kept himself to himself. A trait which bothered the others, especially when he failed to show up for school one day.

"Hey, have you seen Daniel today?"

Matt was on time, for once, and had caught up with L-Drive on campbus.

"No, I thought he would be coming with you"

"And I thought he was coming with you"

"Hmm, you think he's okay?"

"Well, we got time before school starts, so why don't we run by his place and check on him?"

"I can't, I've got to hand in the school newsletter Data"

"Hmm, I'll get Ray to check on him for us"

Matt brought out his PeT. Firewolf already had the E-mail screen open.

"Lemme guess" he started. "Could you check on Daniel for us? He hasn't shown up for school yet and he's normally here by now"

"Pretty much, thanks Firewolf"

Firewolf sent the E-mail, then returned to his usual activities, which was really just standing about waiting for Matt to pick him up. The bell rang out through the campbus. Matt and L-drive looked at each other, then headed into class. Things didn't change any during class, either. Daniel still didn't show up, which left Matt even more worried. Firewolf jacked into Matt's desk, where Cyberlink already was.

"Hey, any word from Ray?" asked Cyberlink.

"Nothing yet, but even I'm starting to wonder. You think he's ill?"

"He looked fine yesterday, so I don't think he would be"

"Hmm, I don't know what could be wrong, then"

"Hopefully, it's not too bad"

Unknown to the pair, the thing that worried them would be answered the very same day.

In the Cyberworld, things grew dark. Very dark. Something unfathomably large obscured the light that penetraded into this digital world. NetNavis that stopped to look up were taken aback by the sheer size of this gargantuan apparition. Navis crowded around on the walkways, trying to see this ... thing. However, these Navis forgot what curiosity did to the cat. The figure lifted one hand and clicked its fingers. Immediately, meteors rained down and obliterated every Navi that stood in its path. Anyone who survived was deleted by a virus, which followed this apparition around as if it was a loyal army.

"Nice work, Omega" said a voice, which clearly belonged to Daniel. "Keep following the path and don't Jack Out. We need to enter every network to find the entrance. Stupid file. It didn't tell us. But at least we know the password for the door. Once we get there, you just need to absorb the Guardian. No-one can stop us ... for no-knows! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"GWAAAAARR!!" Roared Omega, stomping down on some fleeing Navis.

Once this area was cleared, it moved on to the next network in its path; the ACDC High network.


End file.
